Monday, February 27, 2012

The political debates have been all aflutter with talk of women's reproductive rights. The only thing is, I have seen almost no women involved in the debates. If you have been watching the news, you have undoubtedly seen what I am writing about. The demise of the fan base of the Susan G. Komen foundation for withdrawing funding from Planned Parenthood; the attempt by some Congressmen and women to de-fund Planned Parenthood all together; the asinine comments from Rick Santorum regarding his dislike for pre-natal screenings. The list goes on. Here is my take:

If you do not actually have a uterus, you don't get to tell me what to do with mine. Period. I don't care who you are; if your anatomy is different from mine, please shut the hell up. If you have never had cramps, sensitive boobs, a menstrual cycle or watched the Miracle of Life and wished you were a guy for the entire film, just so you would NEVER have to go through childbirth- you don't get a say in what I do with my uterus; what testing I get done pre or post natal; whether or not I populate the entire north side of Chicago. Nope, so shut your damn mouth. Chances are that you will NOT be the reason that I get knocked up, so what is it to you what I do with my body? Just because you are rich, male and (slightly) educated does not mean that little ol' me, not rich (momentarily), female and more than slightly educated has to follow your plan for women everywhere. That is so not going to happen.

For the women that have so much to say about us heathens non conservatives... yo, bitter Betty: keep your eyes on your own panties. I don't tell you what you should do about what goes on in your pants, so how about we just keep this relationship reciprocal? Do I say anything to you when you declare that you and your (obviously gay) husband want to bump uglies in the missionary position with all the lights off, while each of you are thinking about someone else? Nope. Do I rub it in your face when you preach to the whole world that abstinence is the only thing that we should teach our children as one of your children gets knocked up? Well, yes.. because that is too good to pass up. But hey, if you want to have a child and a grandchild the same age and you are able to financially take care of both, then I say, have at it. But what I need you to do is worry about the people under your own roof. Worry about those genitals... and stop your fascination with mine.

What I do (or don't do, for that matter) is absolutely none of your business. I have made it 34 years without needing your input on my life, in general; I have no children, but even if I did-- I get to choose IF I have kids and how many. Not you, not your religion, not your pastor/reverend/minister/pope, and not our President. And for the love of God, definitely not the lackeys in Congress. Those people cannot pass legislation for their own states to keep their constituents in their homes, with jobs with food on the table for the family members they already have. They can't seem to get anything done except argue over whether or not the President is a citizen and who is at fault for the economic disaster that is our economy. I would argue that Congress and politicians in general have so many other things to worry about besides whether or not I get genetic testing done to see if my child is developing properly, a sonogram to hear my child's heartbeat for the first time or exactly who will pay for that. They should not be concerned with whether or not I get birth control from planned parenthood, or go there for a pap smear because I don't have insurance. Since most (fiscal) conservatives believe that social programs should be done away with, why would they care if someone aborted a baby they couldn't afford? Conservatives don't want to pay for that child. Let them tell it, they want to do away with welfare programs all together, so who is going to pay for these children that EVERYONE should have because the pro-lifers say so? If there was no WIC, how would those babies eat? If abortion wasn't legal, where would all these babies go? Surely not into the already crowded foster care system. With celebrities routinely running to other other countries to adopt babies when hundreds of thousands of poor American children wait to be adopted every year, sure no one is going to say "carry that child and then place it up for adoption." Not in good conscience. Not for EVERY unplanned pregnancy in America. I mean really, this is the real world, not your homogeneous utopia.

How about this: Congress, you stick to doing nothing. You guys do it well and you are getting paid handsomely to do so. Keep your mouth closed about shit that does not affect you, namely, what a grown woman does with her body. The country has enough problems to keep you occupied, I promise. Concentrate on getting re-elected... for some of you, that will be a hassle, trust me. Presidential hopefuls: I mean, I guess that I understand that you have to appeal to your voting base, but how many of the people voting for you don't have mothers, sisters, wives, daughters who will be negatively affected by what you are proposing? What would you do if people actually listened to the dangerous propositions that you are advocating? What will you do then? You have Rick Santorum saying that he doesn't believe in pre-natal care (he later when to change it to "genetic testing" in pre-natal care... his advisers just let him say whatever), he also said that he doesn't believe in abortion at all... in any case. He actually said in the case of rape, there should be no abortion option and that women should "make the best out of a bad situation."Yeah, that jackass will never speak for me. His extreme views alone, are enough to put women's rights back to the dark ages. How about he keep his hands off my uterus? I don't know you. You don't know my struggle... keep your hands off my reproductive organs. We have done well thus far.

3
comments:

I wanted to express how absolutely humorous, entertaining, accurate and interesting I found your post: “I don’t know you, so hands off my uterus” to be. I honestly could not have agreed more with the points you made and the criticism you not-so-gingerly passed off on Rick Santorum and the GOP.

My favorite excerpt from your blog post is this, “Since most (fiscal) conservatives believe that social programs should be done away with, why would they care if someone aborted a baby they couldn't afford? Conservatives don't want to pay for that child. Let them tell it, they want to do away with welfare programs all together, so who is going to pay for these children that EVERYONE should have because the pro-lifers say so?”

It is astonishing how fast conservatives will disagree with abortion and ironically also be adamantly against the social programs that feed, clothe and house these children. This is something you express clearly.

For me, its scary to have someone like Santorum running for office. Any man who can say to a rape victim, with a straight face, “make the best out of a bad situation” should not be running the arguably most powerful nation in the world. It should be obvious to note half of said powerful United States is populated with women and female children who are already faced with slut-shaming and rape blame/victimization. Our politicians should be working to empower women and girls, not told to grin and bear it when someone rapes you or you find yourself facing an unplanned pregnancy. In fact, according to the Center for Disease Control, 50 percent of pregnancies in American are unplanned!

It also might be interesting to note Santorum himself is a father to Isabella, his eighth child, a three-year-old girl diagnosed with Edwards Syndrome. Edwards syndrome (or Trisomy 18) is a genetic disorder with the grim survival rate of only 10 percent after their first birthday. The syndrome consist of an extra third chromosome 18, interferes with normal development and can cause clenched hands and feet, underdeveloped mental capacity and low birth weight.

I thought you might find the following video clip interesting about Emily Rapp, the mother of one-year-old Ronan who was diagnosed with Tay-Sachs. Like Edwards syndrome, Tay-Sachs is a (autosomal recessive) genetic disorder that deteriorates mental and physical abilities and most children do not live past four years old. Both of these diseases can be detected by the prenatal screenings Santorum argues against.

I hope you will embed it into your blog and maybe in the future, we could swap blog roll links and widgets.

The clip does a great job of concisely sourcing and compiling news reports to emphasize the scope and context the content is being reported on. Newsy synthesizes and analyzes news into neutral comprehensive video clips showing a variety of opinions on the same topic.

Thanks so much for your comment and for checking out my blog. As I type, I am watching the video you provided. I read this mother's story in the news this week also. She is definitely a strong, wonderful mom. I will keep her and Rowan in my prayers.

I will definitely be using some of your videos in the future and following you on Twitter! I am looking forward to working together in some form. Thanks again for your comment and your input, it is greatly appreciated!

With the elections having passed and the ongoing implementation of healthcare reform, women’s access to contraception is all over the news. Setting the politics aside, did you know that many unplanned pregnancies – and abortions – are the result of not using birth control or using it incorrectly?

Have a look at our recent Everyday Health infogram that uses visualizes a report out of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis:

About Me

Why hot, black and bitter?
It all started out as a corny punchline to a joke. Someone asked my dad how he liked his coffee, his response? I like my coffee like I like my wife-- hot, black and bitter! Little did he know that also accurately describes me and my lovely personality! :)
I am just a regular midwestern young lady. I was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, ventured to the big city of Chicago, made a few other stops and now I am back in the large metropolis of Columbus. I write about politics, music and whatever else is going on in the world today. Slightly opinionated and always right... welcome to my world! :)